AFSANET from the

USAID Vice President

February 14 , 2007

Please send any questions or comments to AFSA/USAID Vice President Francisco Zamora at fzamora@usaid.gov.

(1) More on Our New Format: Thank you for sending your comments. From now on, we will send out the USAID AFSAnet message as a text file, while providing a link at the beginning of each message to a more graphically pleasing and easy-to-read online format. Here is this week’s version in such a format (PDF - 129 KB).


(2) Farewell to a Colleague : Longtime AFSA Executive Director Susan Reardon has moved on to greener pastures, taking a position at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. We here at USAID thank Susan for all the incredible work she has done over the last 14 years. It was Susan who put together the AFSA staff, and she has kept the organization running through successive AFSA administrations. She was the glue and the institutional memory – as such, she will have a successor, but never a replacement. Happy trails, Susan!


(3) Joining the Ranks : AFSA welcomes a batch of 29 new NEPs and IDIs to the Agency. It’s been a while since USAID took on a new class and we are happy to see a group of enthusiastic, highly-qualified professionals joining the Foreign Service. We were very pleased to host a luncheon for them at the AFSA Headquarters on February 13 and are happy to report that 90 percent of them have joined as AFSA members. We hope the rest will also join soon.


(4) AEF Season is Here : Believe it or not, the current AEF cycle will come to a close in just over 40 days. Hopefully you have done the necessary – mid-cycle reviews, 360˚ input, and so forth. It might be a good idea to peruse this Agency notice of February 13 for further information on the AEF process.


(5) Open Your Window : The Agency has issued a very timely notice on the requirements for eligibility into the Senior Foreign Service. One of the requirements is that you fill out an application to be considered for this promotion. Please read this notice VERY CAREFULLY and fill out the application provided in the notice if you have not done so. AFSA deals with too many cases each year where a member was not promoted into the SFS for the simple reason that they did not file this application.


(6) Tax Season is Upon Us : Let AFSA help with your taxes. Our annual tax guide for Foreign Service Officers has been published in the February edition of the Foreign Service Journal. For your convenience, we are including a link to the guide right here.


(7) USAID in the Media : We draw your attention to a recent article in The National Interest, entitled “Preventing Incompetent Development.” It was written by USAID FSO Jed Meline, and we recommend it as a must-read for all USAID members. Here is a link to the article.


(8) In Lieu of FrontLines: Now that FrontLines appears to have ceased publication altogether, we here at AFSA/AID wanted to gauge the interest in a small newsletter targeted to the USAID membership. This would include many of the items the original FrontLines used to feature: News from posts abroad, little items written by members, and such things as new assignments, obituaries and retirements. We would do this every 3 months or so to begin with. Please let us know at fzamora@usaid.gov if you would be interested in something like this.


(9) More Numbers You Can Use: Please find below the statistics on overall AFSA membership and membership participation by constituency. To our great pleasure, USAID is well represented!




 



(10) We’re Here : As always, we welcome visitors at the AFSA office, which is located in RRB 2.10-C. I am available via phone at 202-712-1631 and via e-mail at fzamora@usaid.gov. Senior Labor Management Advisor Doug Broome is at 202-712-0947 or dbroome@usaid.gov. The main AFSA/USAID number is 202-712-1941, while AFSA HQ is at 202-338-4540.